Ella was born with cerebral palsy as a result of
experiencing a lack of oxygen after a 28-hour birth. When she turned
three-years-old she was also diagnosed with autism.

She began athletics when she was 16-years-old,
making her debut for Australia one year later at the Special Olympics Shanghai
World Games in 2007. Pardy was able to bring home the gold medal for the
women’s 100m event.

Whilst Ella was first classified according to her
intellectual disability, she was later reclassified as a T38 athlete, which
relates to her physical disability.

Pardy has not only competed for Australia in
running events but also participated in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games in
the T37/38 long jump.

Ella is currently the Australian and Oceania
100m and 200m T38 record holder and is ranked second in the world.